Chris Adolph

Recent Articles

I s there really no longer a difference in the education policies of the major parties? Consider this year's election campaign: While the Al Gore ticket boasted a vice presidential candidate on record in support of school vouchers, George W. Bush busied himself visiting poor inner-city schools to decry the "soft bigotry of low expectations." The GOP even abandoned its crusade to scrap the Department of Education. With no more to go on than campaign rhetoric, it is easy to conclude that Republicans and Democrats both moved to the middle on education, leaving little to distinguish themselves on the most important issue of the election.
But a comparison of the parties' records in the states reveals stark differences. The party in power tends to slice the pie of educational funding in favor of its own constituents, shrinking the share for the other parties' voters. While Democrats increase the flow of resources to poorer schools, the Republicans shift state aid to middle...